Ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, wife Celia Flores charged with torture in new indictment

A woman holds a poster with an image of ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro during a government-organized rally in Caracas, Venezuela, on Sept. 23. New charges will be filed today against Maduro in the U.S.

(Pedro Mattey/The Associated Press)

The Latest

• New charges will be filed today in the case against ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in the U.S., the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office says.
• Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured by the United States in a special military operation in January and brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges. 
• They have pleaded not guilty and are set to go on trial next year. Both are being held in a federal jail in Brooklyn. 

• October 8

  5 minutes ago

  Flores and Maduro arrested in January nighttime raid

  Verity Stevenson

  

  Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have been in a Brooklyn jail since early January, when 150 U.S. aircraft descended overnight on Caracas and captured the couple. 

  Both have pleaded not guilty in a criminal case first brought six years ago against them and numerous alleged co-conspirators. They face potential life prison sentences if convicted of being part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the U.S.

  U.S. prosecutors say Maduro carried out a conspiracy to move thousands of tonnes of cocaine into the U.S. by colluding with Venezuelan law enforcement to help drug kingpins.

  Flores was set to be back in court today. Her lawyers are expected to urge a judge to free her from jail and put her under house arrest because she has heart problems.

  -With files from The Associated Press

• 10 minutes ago

  Maduro faces new charges

  Mark Gollom

  

  New charges will be filed today in the U.S case against former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, according to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office.

  CNN had previously reported that prosecutors in New York were expected to bring new charges against Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores over the alleged torture of Americans who were held in Venezuelan government custody in recent years.

  Maduro and Flores have been behind bars in New York since early January when U.S. military forces seized them from their Caracas home in a nighttime raid.

  They already face potential life prison sentences if convicted on their January charges of being part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the U.S.

  - with files from The Associated Press and Reuters